Watching the Stars
by Spookje
Summary: Femslash. COMPLETE. 4th year for Hermione turns out to be more interesting than she expected. Hermione x Fleur. Contains femslash, rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

I decided to try something little different of what I usually write. This one is gonna have more chapters sooner or later. I don't usually write sequels/multiple chapters, not my style to just keep going on about something without an end, so eventually this one is gonna meet its end too, just not yet. I usually try to be as true to the characters as possible so if this one's a little different, I apologize, but as I said, I'm trying something new. So just read & review and tell me what you think. Rating is going to change in other chapters… first one is rated K+ for f/f content.

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Hermione lifted her gaze, stared beyond the dark lake-view opening in front of her. She could see the lights of the castle. She sighed in awe, the view never stopped to impress her. She felt the familiar tingling feeling in her stomach, new school year was about to begin. She couldn't wait for the lessons to start; she had of course read her new schoolbooks already. But reading them twice, maybe five times couldn't hurt anybody. She hoped that the fourth year would be even more exciting and more educative than the last three. Dying to know who was going to be this year's new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, she followed Harry and Ron to the carriages, taking them to the castle.

At the feast, Dumbledore announced this year to be extra special. There was going to be a Tri-Wizard Tournament, between three magic schools. Hermione couldn't help overhearing a conversation between some girls of her house, talking about potential good-looking guys from the other schools. Hermione suppressed a snarl. She hadn't really told anyone about herself, not that she would have been hundred percent sure herself, she just knew she wasn't into boys. She preferred not to categorize herself, the word "lesbian" just sounded so harsh. Most importantly, she was not sure if this was not just a phase in her life and she'd "return to normal" after a while.

She spent lot of her time in the library, in her favourite corner, mostly unnoticed and distracted only by Madam Pince when Hermione didn't notice the time flying and the library was about to close. When the arrival of the other schools was getting closer, she had read most of the books written about Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.

Soon Hermione was joining the crowd of chatting students, all of them excited to see the new faces. Hermione though, felt rather prepared and calm, little excited but hiding it better than the others. She stood there, outside with the others, getting little bit bored. She could be in the library reading now, or in the common room by the fireplace now that everyone else was out, she'd have her own privacy. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang finally arrived; Hermione couldn't help feeling a little bit stupid just standing there, like a huge window display, all the students standing in lines. After a while they got into the Great Hall, Hermione was starving.

She hadn't really paid much attention to the new-comers, she already knew what their school robes looked like and she _had_ seen people before. She wasn't acting as thick as everyone else, she wasn't staring at the foreign students like she'd never seen a human being before. Ron's comment on one girl got her attention, though. Hermione noticed how Ron couldn't keep his eyes away from that particular girl; he didn't seem to be the only one. She looked around and saw many boys looking at the French girl's direction. She sighed in frustration, "_Teenagers_," she thought to herself. She liked to think that she was more mature than others of her age. She continued eating, not lifting her gaze off the plate. Suddenly she heard something that made the hair in the back of her neck stand up. A girl, the French girl, asked something. It wasn't what she said, but how she said it that made Hermione shiver. She immediately lifted her eyes off the food and met a pair of icy blue eyes staring at her, momentarily only but it felt like many minutes. She watched the girl take the food she asked for and leave back to sit at her table. As if the French girl could feel the gaze burning in her back, she turned to look straight at Hermione, chuckled as Hermione turned her gaze immediately away.

On the way to the Gryffindor tower, Hermione wasn't listening to anything Ron was talking about. "_What did just happen_?" a voice in her head asked. They stayed in the common room for a while; Hermione was absently staring at the fire. Then she was getting frustrated overhearing Ron talk about the girl all the time and left to bed. She couldn't get any sleep, so she got up and sneaked out to the grounds. She did that sometimes, not very often though, she didn't want to get caught. Only at times when she couldn't get any sleep, she found it really relaxing just to gaze at the stars. She could have done it from her window, but she needed to hear the sounds of the night around her.

She panted a little, after a quick run through the green field of grass, trying to run under the shadows. She found the rock she usually went to; sit behind it so nobody would notice her. Only this time her comfortable spot was occupied. It was dark, but she could see a blond figure, _the French girl_, staring at the stars. The blond girl noticed her presence, turned her head to see who it was.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know anyone would be here," Hermione said quickly; ready to return to the castle.

"It is ok, I couldn't sleep and came 'ere to watch the stars. Please, you're welcome to join me if you want to," she said with a noticeable French accent. She gave Hermione a tiny smile and patted the ground next to her. Hermione hesitated for a moment, but sat down. She sat there without saying anything, just fixing her eyes upon the stars. She couldn't think of anything to say, except to ask her name.

"So, um… What's your name?" she broke the silence.

"Fleur, Delacour. What is yours?"

"Hermione… um… Hermione Granger," she was still staring at the sky, knowing that it was rather rude not to look at Fleur when she talked to her. So she turned her head and glanced at the blond girl, trying not to stare for too long.

"That is a pretty name, 'ermione," she said in a 'matter-of-factly' tone. Hermione wasn't sure if the girl was serious or just being polite. She hadn't really thought of her name like that before, nobody had ever told her it was a pretty name. She let a smile spread across her face.

"Thank you, no one has ever told me that," and she immediately thought she had said something stupid. Maybe the other girl didn't mean it like that. Maybe she _was_ just being polite. She wanted to hit her head hard against the rock but was content with gazing the stars again.

"Well, zey should 'ave. Pretty name for a pretty girl, _non_?"

Hermione shivered at the sound of French accent and maybe partly because of the cold night breeze that was blowing. She turned to stare at Fleur, she was sure that wasn't just being polite, that was a compliment, obvious one. Fleur was staring back at her, making Hermione blush.

"I'm… thank you but I don't think I am… I mean, no one has ever told me that either…" she stuttered a little. "But you are really beautiful… you must know that already though… I bet many people have told you that… um… yeah…"

"A few, yes. I'm getting tired of people staring at me all ze time," she sighed. Hermione noticing then that she was staring at the blond girl, turning her gaze away. "No, 'ermione. I did not mean you, ze boys," she said laughing a little. Hermione smiled.

"It must be fun though; I guess you can choose any guy you want."

"I probably could…" Fleur said, lifting her gaze up to see the sky. "I just don't _want_ to."

Hermione thought of those words for a long while. The French girl could have meant she wanted a girl, not a boy, but still, Hermione could have misinterpreted her words. So she didn't say anything in response, just gazed at the sky. There was a long silence and for about fifteen minutes they both stayed quiet. Hermione was repeating the last phrase in her mind over and over again till the other girl interrupted her thoughts.

"What are you thinking, 'ermione?"

"Just something you said, I mean… um… " she startled about saying it aloud, "I mean that I could have understood you wrong. What did you mean you don't want to?"

"Are you attracted to me, 'ermione?" Fleur asked with a slight amusement in her voice.

"I… you… You did not answer my question," Hermione said quickly, astounded by the French girl's straightforwardness.

"Well, I meant zat right now I don't want any guy. I do like girls too, if zat is what you want to know," Fleur stated, with casual tone.

"I didn't. I mean… I guess I did."

"So?" Fleur said, rising her left eyebrow to pressure the tone of the question.

"So what?"

"You did not answer my question yet, 'ermione," she suppressed a giggle.

"Maybe," Hermione said, biting her lower lip with a confused look on her face.

"Maybe what?" Fleur was little taken aback of the sudden and short answer.

"Maybe I am attracted to you. That's what you asked, right?" Hermione frowned a little.

"_Oui_, zat is what I asked," she said, returning her gaze back at the stars. Hermione was feeling frustrated at this.

"Why did you want to know?" still staring intensely at Fleur, frowning.

"Just curious, zat's all. I'm actually little bit tired, I'd better go to sleep, _non_?" she said, leaned over to plant a kiss on Hermione's cheek and rose up to her feet, "Good night, 'ermione."

Hermione couldn't get a word out of her mouth so she just nodded. A huge smile spread across her face and she watched the other girl leave. She ran her fingers across her cheek and kept smiling. She didn't get back to the castle for another hour, just sat there thinking about the interesting conversation she just had with Fleur.


	2. Chapter 2

Still, low rating for this one as well. Sorry guys, I know you wanted more and this one is kinda short, I promise to write longer chapter next, and as soon as I can. This chapter however is essential in a way. I'm already working on the next chapter.

Too much caffeine and enormous lack of sleep

Anyways, R&R! I wouldn't post these here if I didn't want any reviews…

The next morning, Hermione woke up, lying quietly on her bed. She replayed the events of the last night, she wasn't sure if it had all been a dream. It had felt like a dream anyways. After a few minutes, she got up, changed her pyjamas into her school robes. She went down to the Great Hall to have some breakfast and found Harry and Ron already sitting there. Hermione glanced at the Ravenclaw table to see if Fleur was there, but she was nowhere around. She sat next to Ron and gathered some toast on her plate. Absent-mindedly she was sipping her tea, staring the empty space in front of her. Harry awoke her from her trance, waving his hand in front of her face.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked, slightly amused.

"Oh, um… Nothing, just thinking about the subjects I have today," she lied.

"Right. So, what did you girls talk about last night?" Harry asked, still slightly amused.

"What! How did you… I mean, who do you mean?" Hermione wasn't sure what Harry meant, he could not possibly know about last night. Could he?

"I couldn't get any sleep either, I usually just check the map if something interesting comes up," he stated. "And I couldn't have missed such activity as you sneaking out, running around the school grounds and meeting up with one of the guests."

"I was not meeting with anybody, well, not intentionally at least. She just happened to be there," I said quickly.

"Oh, so, what did you talk about?" he asked, his tone changed from amusing to casual.

"Just girls' stuff. You wouldn't understand," she said, more heatedly than she intended. She then gave Harry a determined stare, stating that she would not discuss this matter anymore. She was feeling rather relieved though. At least now she knew she wasn't dreaming. She turned to Ron, who hadn't said anything yet. She noticed why he hadn't said a word, and she couldn't help rolling her eyes, seeing what distracted Ron so much. He was staring at the Ravenclaw table, now occupied by Beauxbatons students, including Fleur. Fleur was staring at her direction, when their eyes met; she smiled and continued to eat her breakfast.

"Did you see that Harry! She smiled at me, the Veela girl smiled at me!" Ron was now talking to Harry, his eyes about to pop out and his jaw fallen to the floor.

"Veela? Again, Ron, she is not a Veela," Hermione said, feeling rather frustrated. She ignored the rest of the conversation between Ron and Harry and finished her breakfast. She got up to get her books from the Gryffindor tower. She hadn't even walked out of the Great Hall yet when she felt someone grab her arm. She turned around and was a little surprised to see Fleur staring at her.

"I would like to talk to you, after ze lessons if zat is fine?" she asked, staring at Hermione, her expression unreadable.

"S-sure," Hermione answered, stammering as she wasn't sure what the French girl wanted to talk about. She didn't have a chance to ask her, Fleur just nodded and walked away. Hermione stood there for a while, noticed soon how stupid she must look and left to the Gryffindor tower.

She had gotten her books from her room, and was on her way out when she ran into Ron and Harry in the common room.

"What did she say? Anything about me?" Ron cornered her immediately. She gave Harry a confused look; Harry just chuckled and shrugged.

"No, Ron, she did not mention you. Just asked for my help with something,"

Hermione couldn't help feeling a little bit self-satisfied. She knew Ron was jealous at her; he would have probably given anything to be in her position right now. Hermione stared at Ron's blank face for a moment, thinking if she should just beat the beaten and tell him about last night. But she decided not to and walked out of the portrait, the boys trailing after her. Harry didn't mention about Hermione's nightly adventures again, just shot a few curious glances at Hermione during the lessons.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

Huge thanks to all of you who have posted reviews! I'll get to the chapter 4 as soon as possible. I won't keep you waiting for too long, I promise. :)

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Hermione was feeling awfully nervous the whole day. She tried to keep her thoughts focused on the lessons, hoping that the time would go faster. However, minutes seemed like hours and by the lunch-time she was feeling so ill, she decided not to eat anything so she wouldn't need to rush to the toilet and throw it all up.

"'Mione, for crying out loud, what's wrong with you? You've never acted like this," Ron asked finally, just causing Hermione to shoot a very anxious glare at his direction. She was just taking few sips of water every now and then. Her mood swung from excited to scared and then to obnoxiously ill. She avoided even glancing at the Ravenclaw table.

Hermione found it hard to sit still in the Charms lessons that afternoon. It was only about five minutes to the end of the lesson, end of the day's torture. She was biting her nails till they bled, making her more aggravated now that she had nothing to keep her focus concentrated on.

"If I didn't know her any better, I'd swear she's nervous about meeting with the Veela-girl," Ron whispered to Harry.

"Yeah, she's probably just getting nervous about the OWLs or something," Harry said, glancing at Hermione.

"It's still a whole year before OWLs, has she gone mad?" Ron said with his eyes bulging.

"Just for the record, I'm right here and I can hear what you're talking about," Hermione then whispered to Ron who was sitting next to her. She was already counting the seconds till the lesson would end.

"How can you worry something like OWLs already?" Ron turned to her and asked.

"Never said I did, Harry said so, but OWLs are very essential for the last two years in case if you didn't know," Hermione snapped.

"Alright, keep your hair on, I was just asking. But, really… OWLs?" Ron whispered loudly with a suspicious tone.

"Well maybe it's the bloody Tournament then, why do you care anyways?"

"You're just acting so oddly," he said, looking utterly confused.

"And how many times I have to say, Fleur is not a Veela, get over it," Hermione said, turning her focus into Professor Flitwick who was now lost in conversation with Parvati.

"So Fleur is her name, such a pretty name…" Ron was talking quietly to himself, "Wait, how do you even know her name?"

"Oh, for goodness' sake Ron, leave her alone. Presumably she introduced herself, as it is polite to do so," Harry answered to Ron. Hermione wasn't paying much attention to what they were talking. She wanted the time to go faster, but it was slowing down every second, or so it seemed.

When Professor Flitwick finally started giving out homework, Hermione had gathered her things in a second, wrote down the homework in her notebook and stood up, ready to leave. As everyone else was also starting to leave, Hermione dashed out of the class room. It was just then when it hit her that Fleur never said where they would meet. So she decided to head to the Entrance Hall, hoping to find Fleur there. To her relief, she saw the blond girl standing near the doors. She felt more nervous at every step she took towards her and couldn't get any word out of her mouth when she was close enough.

"'Ermione, 'ow nice to see you but I'm afraid we need to see later. Our 'eadmistress, Madam Maxime, wants a few words with us about ze Tournament. 'Er few words usually mean many, many words and it could take long. I do not want to keep you waiting for nothing, 'ermione," she said, looking sincerely apologetic, "but 'ow about if we meet where we met last night, _non_? At ze same time, maybe earlier. Let's say, around midnight. Zat is ok, _non_?"

Hermione was quiet for a moment, shocked of this late intervention. She eventually regained her voice back.

"I… I waited the whole day to get a chance to talk to you, now you're saying I have to wait more?" she practically shouted, drawing people's attention. Noticing this, Fleur dragged Hermione further to the corner. She waited for a moment so the people around them stopped staring and continued to go on their ways.

"I'll promise you a romantic evening, staring at ze stars again, I think you can wait for a moment longer, _non_?" she said in a soft tone, smiling gently at Hermione.

"Let's hope it'll be a clear sky then," Hermione said, feeling relatively better now that she knew what she was waiting for.

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Sorry guys! I'm really tired right now, so you'll just have to wait again. I'll write more as soon as I wake up, couldn't stop writing now that I have a clear idea what I will write about. How the story will continue from this and some stuff that will happen. So you'll know eventually. Patience :D


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione was walking quietly through the corridors. She cursed herself for not asking Harry about lending his cloak to her. She knew she would have had to answer awkward questions of why she wanted to borrow it. But trying to get out of the castle unnoticed was not as easy as she remembered. It was nearly midnight already and Hermione was getting rather anxious. She was about in the half-way out when something heavy landed on her shoulder.

"Hedwig! What...?"

Hedwig dropped a note and Harry's cloak in Hermione's lap and flew away out of an open window. Hermione read the note written in Harry's unmistakeable handwriting. _Snape is blocking your way ahead_. Hermione put on the cloak and continued her way out of the castle. Snape did indeed strut ahead, would have blocked her way badly if she wasn't wearing the cloak. She got pass him and headed out to the grounds. She didn't need to run this time so she took her time and walked. When she reached the rock, she noticed the absence of her companion. She figured she was just a little bit too early and took off the cloak and settled herself, sitting on the ground. She tilted her head back to see the stars.

Ten minutes passed until Hermione could hear any sign of movement anywhere, besides the quiet bird-singing coming from the woods. Distant footsteps were coming closer. She felt the familiar tingling feeling in her stomach and in a spur of a moment she put the cloak back on. Hermione saw Fleur coming behind the rock. Fleur quickly glanced at the area where Hermione was sitting; expecting to see someone there and got disappointed when Hermione hadn't arrived yet. Hermione resisted an urge of revealing herself to the girl who was now pouting in front of her. The next moment Fleur sat down, landing herself perfectly on top of Hermione who then shouted some cursing words before bursting into laugh. Fleur backed off a little, fumbled her hand towards the source of laughter, grabbed a hold of the cloak and pulled it off.

"You almost gave me a 'eartattack, 'ermione!"

"Sorry!" Hermione was still shaking with laughter. Her laughs faded however when Fleur sat on her feet, facing her face.

"Zis was more comfortable seat anyway," she said, smile spreading across her face.

Hermione blushed. Their eyes met and neither one was keen on breaking the connection. As Fleur started to trace random patterns lightly on the other girl's cheek, Hermione was beginning to feel really nervous. Nervousness she had felt during the day was nothing to be compared with. There was an unfamiliar tingly feeling coursing through her veins. She remembered having a similar feeling when she had sat on her leg for too long, but still nothing to be compared with as this feeling filled her whole body. This feeling was new, anticipation she hadn't felt before mixed with extreme nervousness. If she liked the feeling, she couldn't decide. Not wanting the moment to stop, still she wanted something more, something to happen. Fleur moved some locks of curly hair from the side of Hermione's head, broke the eye-connection the couple was having and bent down. She gave a tiny, soft kiss on the exposed skin of Hermione's neck. Hermione felt too nervous to move, unable to breathe. She could feel everyinch of the soft lips pressing against her neck. The softness was overwhelming, filling her body with a warm rush of blood. She had to close her eyes, trying to keep her breathing as steady as possible when the trail of light kisses found their way higher. She tilted her head subconciously a bit to give a better access. Fleur dragged her head along the side of Hermione's, cheeks softly touching each other until the girls were face to face again. Hermione could feel the silky soft lips pressing against hers, she parted her lips, gently kissing Fleur back. The nervuos feeling was gone, released and she was melting into the kiss. She slowly placed her hand behind Fleur's neck, pulling her head slightly closer. She tasted a faint taste of something sweet on the French girl's lips. The kiss continued until they startled at a small cracking sound coming nearby. The pulled back from each other, Hermione took the cloak and threw it on both of them. Neither one moved, silently listening to any signs of the intruder. Fleur jumped a bit when something furry walked towards them from the dark shadows.

"Crookshanks! It's ok Fleur, it's just my cat," Hermione stated, feeling rather angry that the cat had interrupted them.

Fleur took the cloak off. She turned around, re-positioned herself and cuddled under Hermione's arm. There was a moment of silence, soon broken by Fleur.

"I always wonder if zere is someone living in ze stars, ze other galaxies or if one day we could travel to ze stars. I would like to live right zere," Fleur said, pointing up in the sky.

"I like to think there is something, society like ours, sort of a mirror dimension. When I look up there, another me is staring back at me. And I've had this habit of naming the stars after friends and family since I was little. All of my friends have their own stars," Hermione said, gazing at the stars.

"Can I 'ave a star of my own as well?"

"Of course, uhm... that one is yours." Hermione took a moment to decide, then pointed at the brightest star she could find.

"_Merci_, 'ermione"

"You're welcome. So how do you like Hogwarts so far?"

"I don't. Ze weather is too cold, ze castle is dark and also too cold, and I 'ave to admit zat ze only interesting thing 'ere is you, 'ermione"

"You... you think _I_ am interesting?" Hermione asked in awe. She never could have thought someone would actually find her interesting.

"You're different, in a good way, of course. You should see ze girls of my school, so superficial and always talking about ze boys," Fleur sighed, "well, some of zem are like me, but still no difference to ze others, zey just talk about girls _and_ boys."

"Oh yeah, it's just the same here. I guess that's why I'm always hanging around Harry and Ron. Or that is just what makes me so different 'cause I do so."

"Maybe so, 'ermione. I 'ate to say zis but I should be sleeping. I 'ave to wake up early tomorrow. I 'ope we can sleep together later," Fleur said rather apologetically, turning to face Hermione. Seeing the expression on the other girl's face, she corrected herself, "I mean, sleeping next to you, _pardon_ my english. You understand what I mean, _non_?"

"Yes, of course. I'm a bit tired myself. What comes to the sleeping arrangements, we'll think about it later, ok?"

Hermione felt a nervous tinge in her stomach. She hadn't really thought how far this would actually go. Fleur stood up, offering her hand to Hermione to pull her up. When they were standing, facing each other and hands still locked together, Fleur leaned in to give a good-night kiss. She broke the kiss after a while and stared into Hermione's eyes.

"Good night, 'ermione"

"Good night, Fleur. See you tomorrow then," Hermione said, smiling widely. They started to leave, Hermione grabbed the cloak off the ground and started walking with Fleur, hands holding each other until they had to part and Fleur walked off to different direction. Hermione pulled on the cloak and headed towards the castle. She took her time, walking slowly and a smile still spread on her face as she was thinking of Fleur.

She was halfway up the stairs to the front doors when she stopped and thought of her options for a second. She turned around and headed back, towards the Beauxbatons carriage.

TBC

Sorry that writing this took ages. But hopefully it was worth it. Let me know!

R&R please :)


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry guys, I know it takes forever for me to update this. Hopefully the waiting is worth it. Also, I noticed a major loophole in my story after reading the fourth book again. The events haven't been too accurate in my story and I apologize for this mix up. I'll update the first chapters when I have time and now on I'll do my best to follow the book. I know fanfiction gives a right to a little bit of artistic licence, to change things, but I do not like writing stories like that. So expect updates on the latest chapters, and hopefully new chapters too, soon. Summer vacation started and I should have all the time in the world right now, considering especially how bored I am at the moment. I hope for your sake, and mine, that I could get on with this fic faster than in the past. However, enjoy this one:) …or not ;)

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Hermione reached the Beauxbatons carriage in the dark, only to find the door locked. She tried several spells to open it, but it seemed to be sealed with more advanced magic that she could manage to perform. After a while of considering the ways to penetrate the locked door, she decided to return to the castle. She made a mental note to ask Fleur later if a password was needed to open the door. Maybe it was for the better that she did not get in. Fleur might not have liked the disturbance; she had said earlier quite clearly that she wished to go to bed, that she was tired. Hermione reached the Gryffindor tower and went straight to bed. (The Fat Lady wasn't too happy for the late interruption) Her thoughts wondered for a while, for how long, Hermione didn't know and she finally fell asleep.

Next morning she made it to the breakfast. Harry and Ron weren't speaking to each other, due to last night's events. She found only Ron sitting on the Gryffindor table. Regretting that she hadn't been really concentrating on the shocking matter yesterday, she took a pile of toasts with her and went back to look for Harry. After shortly finding him, they went for a walk outside.

They discussed the Tournament for a while, until Harry changed the subject to Fleur.

"So what's up with you two? And don't tell me it's nothing, I'm not blind. I also don't mind if it's something serious. I mean, I do not mind the fact that she's playing against me in this Tournament nor do I mind if you like her," Harry explained with difficulty, he was obviously a little bit uncertain how to express himself. Hermione avoided his gaze, thinking if she should tell Harry anything.

"I um… well… Yes, I think it's getting more serious," she blushed slightly, "but don't think for a second I'd help her out with the tasks or anything, I'm definitely rooting for you."

"I know you wouldn't; besides I do not think she needs anyone's help. She wouldn't have been chosen if she wasn't skilled enough," Harry wondered aloud and took a bite of his last piece of toast. A grin spread on his face, and with a bit of amusement in his voice he added, "Talking about her skills, is she a good kisser as well?"

Hermione suppressed a chuckle and hit Harry playfully in the arm.

"The best."

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The next few days, Hermione only got a glimpse of Fleur during the breakfast. Her days were filled with lessons and trying to get Harry and Ron talk to each other. It was proving to be a lot harder than what she'd have thought. She managed to set up a meeting with Fleur in that mess, the same place, and the same time. They laughed and shared stories, talked till the dawn broke. The weather was getting colder; you could tell it by the steam that was forming when they were breathing and talking. They didn't notice how cold it really was, Fleur had brought a blanket and they were cuddled inside it and their conversation kept their minds off the temperature. It was when they were disturbed by the sun rising behind the mountains and blinding their eyes, they decided to call it a night and get ready for the day.

That was the day when everything went wrong. Just before Potions a fight started. Everything happened really fast, and first thing Hermione acknowledged were her teeth growing at alarming rate. After Snape cruelly pronounced that he saw no difference, Hermione rushed to the Hospital Wing. She kept quiet the rest of the day and avoided to glance at anyone. In the common room Harry came to talk to her about Rita Skeeter and her interview with the champions. Hermione was catching up with her Potions work and was half listening to Harry. When she heard Fleur's name mentioned she immediately lifted her gaze from the homework.

"Fleur let slip something quite interesting when Ollivander was examining her wand, her wand happens to contain a Veela hair, from her grandmother, so she is a part-Veela after all," Harry explained.

"WHAT!"

"Yeah, Ron was right all along, I would tell him, but I guess you have to do that now, in case you _want_ to admit to him you were wrong. Though that just might encourage him to be a bigger prick."

"But… she never said anything… how could she…" Hermione was muttering to herself. She suddenly rose up and her schoolbook fell onto the floor and a bottle of ink shattered, she didn't care, she just took off and headed towards the grounds, running as fast as she could. She couldn't help thinking Fleur had just been playing with her and casted a strange spell on her or something. She kept running and tears were streaming down her cheeks. She reached the grounds and saw Fleur with a group of girls from Beauxbatons laughing and walking towards the carriage. She ran to them and stopped Fleur by grabbing her arm, more forcefully than she had intended. Fleur flinched at first and turned around to see who was violating her. The other girls were staring curiously at Hermione; Fleur sent them away with an angry stare.

"What's wrong, 'ermione?" she asked, feeling worried.

"You, how could you! I thought you cared, but all along you've just been playing with me!"

"I 'ave not… What are you talking about?" Fleur had a really puzzled look on her face, she was staring at the shorter girl in front of her, tears falling down her face, her eyes closed and shaking her head vigorously. Fleur lifted her hand to wipe off some tears, but Hermione stepped back.

"Gerroff me! You could have told me yourself, would have been easier to convince me you're not just playing games. Or were you going to tell after you had sex with me!" Hermione couldn't speak clearly, she felt her heart beating in her throat and the words were barely recognizable behind the sobbing.

"Told you what, 'ermione!" Fleur asked, slightly getting angry at this accusing tone when she had done nothing at all. She had a bad temper, though she tried to keep telling herself this was not the moment to lose it, it was quite hard. She was obviously accused of something she hadn't done.

"That you're a…"

"I'm a _what_!"

"Like you don't know! A part-Veela!" Hermione turned around and started running back to the castle. Fleur watched her leave, unable to move. The last comment had been somehow exhaustive and drained every last feeling she had just been feeling. Motionless she just kept staring at the spot where Hermione disappeared behind the doors. First though that came to her mind, she whispered it out in the cold weather. She scarcely heard herself say it.

"_But I thought you knew…"_

_---_

I'm evil. I know. Hang on in there.

R&R, or the next chapter will be delayed. :D


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys, hopefully I haven't kept you waiting for too long. Thanks for what seemed like dozens of reviews, I really appreciate it. :)

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The First Task was getting nearer and the atmosphere at the school was getting more nervous every day. Probably the only one who wasn't being too nervous about all of it was Hermione. She had been feeling rather numb for at least a week. She had been avoiding Fleur in any possible ways, if she saw her walking in the corridors; Hermione took the closest short cut and disappeared before Fleur could even notice her. She knew the short cuts of the castle like the back of her hand; like most of the students of Hogwarts did. The only things she could concentrate on were the lessons. Before the First Task, Harry asked her to help him with Summoning Charms. She was emotionally tired, but did her best to help Harry.

She felt rather guilty the morning she was walking towards the arena so she headed her steps towards the tent where the champions were getting prepared. She wished Harry the best luck and gave him a hug, Rita Skeeter came in the same minute to cause some chaos and get juicy news. Wiggling out of the situation Hermione was half out of the tent when she heard someone say her name. The minute she cursed out loud, for not remembering who was also going to be in that tent.

"'Ermione, could you please listen to me for a second?" Fleur asked. Hermione took a deep breath and turned around.

"I think I've heard enough," she said, grinding her teeth and feeling remotely angry at herself for not remembering something so obvious.

"But…" Fleur managed to say before Hermione cut her off.

"I don't ever want to hear anything from you, so stay away from me!" She exclaimed and ran out of the tent.

Hermione found Ron from the audience and quietly sat next to him.

"I was holding you a seat, where have you been?" Ron asked.

"None of your business," Hermione was squeezing her fists, last thing she needed right now was Ron to cause her a nervous breakdown.

"No need to take it out on me! Could you just loosen it up for a change?"

"Well, if you're such an unemotional prick, why don't you tell me how to "loosen it up", huh?"

"Merlin! What's your problem! Did you fight with Harry too? Talking of Harry, I wonder which dragon he has to battle. I hope Fleur gets the smallest one though, being the only girl in this tournament and all, it's just not fair…"

Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She threw herself backwards and closed her eyes, because even the sight of anyone at that moment made her feel so nauseated.

---

A week after the First Task, Hermione was feeling a little bit better. She didn't feel like a messenger between Harry and Ron anymore. And she had also apologized to the boys for her latest behaviour. Fleur apparently felt angry too; she didn't talk or even glimpse at Hermione's direction. Hermione didn't mind, though she occasionally wondered what Fleur had to say to her before the First Task and understood why Fleur was also mad at her for not giving her any chance to explain.

Hermione and the boys were sitting in the common room, homework spread before them. It was pouring rain outside and all of the students were packed inside, most of them hanging around in the common room doing homework, playing games or chatting with friends. Some still came to Harry to congratulate him; some first years came to ask for an autograph and left with sour faces when they didn't get any. Harry and Ron were still working on their star charts for astronomy and asked Hermione to check the charts for mistakes. Staring at the star chart brought back memories from the late night star-gazing sessions she had with Fleur. She then turned her focus quickly back to Ron's paper. She started to correct the wrong stars. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Exactly HOW thick can you get, Ron! You have mixed up Cassiopeia and Pegasus, I ask you again, Ron, how thick can you get? One of these days, I wouldn't be surprised if you lost the location of your own---" Hermione was cut off by Ron.

"Alright, I get it. I'm a thick-head and you're a genius, now just correct the rest of them, please."

Hermione was about to open her mouth to say something when she realized something. She couldn't believe she had missed such a detail. _Must have been her charms though, to get me so distracted_, she thought. She felt a strange boiling feeling in her stomach and without saying a word, she ran out again. She ran straight to the Beauxbatons carriage filled with rage and started banging on the door. A girl dressed in blue robes came to open the door.

"May I speak to Miss Delacour, please?" Hermione asked, trying to keep her voice calm. The girl nodded and went back inside. Fleur appeared on the doorstep few moments later.

"What is it now, _Mademoiselle _Granger?"

"Could you step outside, the whole carriage doesn't need to hear this," Hermione said, doing her best not to bellow or else lose control. Fleur stepped out and closed the door; many curious faces appeared in the windows. Hermione jerked her head towards the windows. Fleur nodded in silence and they found more private place for their talk. By the time they reached a place far enough from the stares and the hearing ears, Hermione was clenching her teeth again. She was sure if her insides were made of wood, she'd been burn into ashes already. When they stopped, she lifted her gaze to meet an icy stare. She couldn't help but laugh sarcastically at herself, how she never noticed this before.

"I've known this all along in the back of my head and for some reason, we both know what I'm talking about, I didn't notice one detail before this evening. I never paid any attention to it, normally I probably would have but you gave me no chance to notice anything," Hermione stated, still able to keep her voice quite calm.

"I 'ave no idea what you are talking about, zis detail you mentioned or "for some reason" something, again, I ask you, what are you talking about?"

"That detail, just happens to be something my sub-consciousness has tried to warn me about, or rather, I made that choice subconsciously so that I would maybe notice it later. Do you remember when I named a certain star after you?" Hermione was getting rather anxious, starting to sound quite accusing.

"_Oui_, of course I do. Why?"

"It just happens to be fake; it's a planet, not a star. And that obviously means that my sub-consciousness has been trying to tell me that you're a fake too!"

"And zat is what you believe zen? Your crazy mind, zat 'as obviously lost any remaining 'int of sanity, _non_?" Fleur almost shouted, "And what right do you 'ave to call me a fake? I 'ave never told you a single lie."

"What right do you have to call me crazy then? You just told me another lie; by saying you're never told any lies. You've told me nothing but lies. I only ask you to answer honestly for once, why me? When you could have fooled any other girl or a boy from here, older and better looking one, why did you choose me?"

"If you are referring to my Veela relations, I must disappoint you, and crush your silly theories about me, but I did not choose you, or anyone else," Fleur said with the coldest tone she could muster.

"Oh, I see, I just happened to be the first fool to be on your way. I think I've heard enough," Hermione said and started to walk away. Fleur reached and grabbed her arm.

"I couldn't 'ave charmed you with ze Veela-part of me, even if I wanted to, just so zat you know," she stated, still staring coldly at Hermione who had turned her head to hear what Fleur had to say. She let go of Hermione's arm and started to walk off to a totally different direction. Hermione felt like shouting something after her but decided it was enough for one evening and headed back to the Gryffindor Tower.

---

They won't be fighting forever, I promise ;) I just want to ask you, what you think. Should I keep the story to fit the PG-13 rating and leave the rest to your imagination (in later chapters) or change the style a bit, only a bit and it'd be NC-17 after that?

And I do not promise any sexual content yet in the next chapter in case if you voted for the last option. But I'd just like to know what you think.

(Just another way to squeeze the reviews out of you guys, I'm evil :D)

No, seriously, I wanna know :)

Anyhow, R&R even if you don't own an opinion about my question. Thanks guys for reviewing, this story wouldn't continue without your support. :)

And I want to also remind that constructive criticism is still very welcomed, if you feel like the story isn't working in any/some ways just let me know. I won't cry, I promise. :D


	7. Chapter 7a

Sorry if this update is late, not terribly late I hope. I haven't had the inspiration to write anything lately. Anyways, enjoy the chapter. :)

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The Yule Ball was approaching and the atmosphere at the castle was getting excited. Hermione found this extremely annoying, girls giggling in the bathrooms and everyone acting so strangely. The level of noise in between lessons and after them drove Hermione to the library. To her surprise, even if it was nearing Christmas, students seemed to come to library, and only few of them were looking for the silence. The rest of them were what Hermione kept quietly damning the "Krum-Fanclub". They kept their distance though; Hermione was always sitting in the darkest corner as far from the Fanclub as she could. She was used to her privacy; the usual students who came to the library knew how Hermione always wanted to study without interruptions. The occasional clueless first-year student moving towards her was given an irritated stare and they dared not to go closer. That one particular time, few weeks before Christmas, Hermione startled when remotely familiar face appeared in front of her.

"Her-mow-nee, I vould like to ask you a kvestion," Viktor Krum said, rather shyly.

"Oh, er… Yes?"

"Vould you like to come vit me to the Yule Ball?" His cheeks turned red and he directed his gaze to the floor.

"Me? Er… I suppose I could come with you. I mean, nobody else has asked me or anything," Hermione said, rather hesitantly. Nobody had asked her, but the reality of going with someone finally hit her. The thought of Fleur suddenly popped into her head, she suddenly remembered the last thing Fleur had said to her. _I couldn't 'ave charmed you with ze Veela-part of me, even if I wanted to, just so zat you know. _Hermione stood up and went to find the book she suddenly remembered once seeing; Krum tailing her.

"Oh, yes, I'll come with you so if you'll wait for me before entering the Great Hall or something, or I could just look for you in there in case you don't wish to wait," Hermione said, noticing Krum behind her.

"If you vould come to our ship and ve vould go together," he said, gave Hermione a small bow and left with a shy smile on his face. Hermione was already strolling between the shelves and finally found the book, opened it straight away and checked the page from the index. She read the part standing up, she felt like her heart had stopped and kept re-reading the part that proved everything wrong, every reason she had for being so mad at Fleur. The book dropped on the floor from her hands with a loud thump and Madam Pince soon came to see what had caused the noise.

"The books belong on the shelves or on the tables and should not be placed on the floor,"

"Wha--- Oh, the book, I'm sorry. I won't do that in the future, thank you. I… I uh, I think I was just about to leave," Hermione stuttered, she picked up the book and put it back on the shelf. She walked out of the library, her mind was blank and soon she found herself sitting on her own bed, feeling utterly confused. Her insides seemed to be vanished; she felt unfamiliar emptiness inside of her. Everything she had kept telling herself for the past weeks had just been flushed down the toilet. She didn't know how she should be feeling. Ginny happened to walk by the doorway and saw Hermione sitting and staring at nothing.

"Hermione? Are you alright?"

"I think so," she answered, still feeling numb and empty.

"But you don't seem to be, well, yourself. Has something happened?" Ginny sounded worried; she walked in front of her and sat down on the opposite bed. Hermione still had the empty stare and said nothing. Ginny waved her hand in front of Hermione's face.

"Oh, Ginny, how did you get here?" Hermione asked, feeling more conscious of where she was. She looked around her, twice, to see that she really was sitting on her bed. She felt uneasy, the last thing she remembered was being in the library and reading the book about Veelas, particularly how their charms affect people. It clearly stated that it only affects the men, not women, "more importantly, how did _I_ get here?"

"Are you sure you're ok?" Ginny asked, staring at Hermione inquisitively.

"Yes, I'm fine. I guess I'm just a bit confused," Hermione tried to make a quick excuse, she wasn't ready to tell Ginny anything, "Viktor Krum asked me to the Yule Ball with him," Hermione stated, more to herself than to Ginny, when she remembered more clearly what had happened. Ginny's eyes lit and she let out a scream.

"He did! Well?"

"What? Oh… I said yes," Hermione answered, she started to regret her decision. She could've just apologized to Fleur and asked her now that she knew. But then she looked at Ginny and decided it might have not been a bad decision after all. She wasn't ready to come out to the whole school.

Ginny kept asking every detail and to Hermione's annoyance pointed out things she would have not thought about, such as what she was going to wear, how she'd do her hair, if she'd wear any make-up or what kind of shoes she had, if she wanted her fingernails to be painted the same shade as the dress and all other things Hermione felt like she couldn't have cared less at that moment.

---

Fleur still kept avoiding Hermione; she only saw her at breakfast and couldn't find her anywhere after lessons. The morning of the Yule Ball everyone were fussing around and Ginny kept confronting Hermione whenever she could. Few hours before Yule Ball Hermione saw Ginny approaching her again and made some excuse to the boys and fled from sight. She locked herself in the bathroom and decided that she'd confront Fleur during the Yule Ball where she couldn't avoid her. Remembering that it'd still be hours before the Yule Ball, she thought she could take the most of the time and actually prepare herself. She wanted to look perfect, from head to toes. Even if it meant polishing her nails and putting on some make-up, which in any other situation she would have not done.

Finally feeling and looking ready, she headed her steps towards the Grounds. On the way she felt very nervous but better and more confident she had felt in weeks. She wondered whether Krum still remembered that he was supposed to go with her, she had ignored him quite completely. Dreading that she'd have to enter the Ball alone, it increased her nervousness. But all of her doubts and fears disappeared when she saw Krum standing near the lake and waiting for her. They waited a while for Professor Karkaroff and the other students and after everyone was ready they started walking towards the castle. Hermione was in the front with Viktor, she turned her head to see if the Beauxbatons students were anywhere near but she couldn't see them anywhere. They reached the doors and went in. She kept walking close to Viktor and felt extremely anxious, seeing the people staring at her from the corner of her eye. She nervously glanced around and every single one of them had their eyes on her. She decided to ignore them and let the evening finally begin.

---

After the filling feast and lots of dancing, Hermione stopped to greet the boys, only she found Ron in particularly bad mood, after fighting him a while, she realized she could never even tell Ron. She could imagine how he'd blame her for the same things he was blaming about Viktor. _Fraternizing with the enemy_. Harry tried to stand up for Hermione but couldn't help much, Hermione stormed out of the Great Hall and headed for the first bathroom she could find. Splashing her face with some cold water and gathering her thoughts for a while, she stared at herself from the mirror for a while. She felt slightly bad for abandoning Viktor like that. She had already discussed about the nature of their date with him, he had agreed to only friendship and understood the matter as well as Harry had. She felt like needing some fresh air after all the dancing and storming around. She walked around in the garden and stared at her feet, lost in her thought. She tried to think of the best way to apologize to Fleur and how she'd confront her, prevent her from leaving the scene. Suddenly she stopped; a few feet further Roger Davies was dragging Fleur to the nearest rose bush. Their lips were locked together, Hermione just stood there, unable to move, until the two stopped kissing and Fleur noticed Hermione standing there, tears forming in her eyes. Hermione turned away and started to run as fast as she could, heading towards the forest. She was halfway there when Fleur caught her from behind. Hermione stopped running; Fleur turned her around and embraced her. Hermione tried to get away but Fleur kept holding her tightly.

"No, 'ermione. Let me explain, we were not... I mean… we were but I did not want to 'urt you, I never wanted to 'urt you, please, believe me," Fleur said, still holding Hermione who had stopped trying to get away and was instead crying on her shoulder. She put her hands around Fleur and returned the embrace. Neither of them said anything or moved anywhere for a while. Hermione gradually stopped crying and pulled back slightly. She lifted her gaze to see Fleur.

"I should have believed you in the first place, I just… I was being thick. I'm sorry that I said all those foul things to you, I really didn't mean to hurt you either."

"So you finally found out ze Veela-charms don't 'ave an effect on women?" Fleur asked with somewhat an amused tone, giving Hermione a little grin.

"Yes, I'm really sorry I jumped into conclusions like that—"

"I am sorry, 'ermione for being so cold towards you, for not trying to find you and explain," Fleur said more gravely, the grin vanishing from her face.

"You had every right to be mad at me, and I'm the one who should have found you earlier, or read the damn book before blaming you," Hermione said, holding her tears back again. Fleur placed her other hand on Hermione's cheek and pulled her into a deep kiss.

When Fleur finally broke the kiss, she stared into Hermione's eyes. Hermione stared back and was in awe how the blue eyes looked even deeper blue in the moonlight. The golden lights coming from the castle were flickering in the blue eyes and Hermione couldn't help but think she had never seen anything so beautiful. Apparently Fleur was thinking the same.

"'Erm-own-ninny, you are really beautiful tonight," Fleur said softly.

"Thank you, wait… did you just call me Herm-own-ninny? Were you listening to what we were talking about?" Hermione asked slightly amused, grinning at Fleur who gave Hermione a sly smile.

"I might 'ave over'eard some things."

"Which reminds me, I left Viktor all alone, I should probably go and say goodnight to him," Hermione said, not really wanting to leave but feeling worse every second, Viktor had really been nice and understanding.

"Could you come to see me later? Let's say in about an 'our if possible, I'll wait for you in front of our carriage, _non_?"

"Oh… Of course, I'd stay now but I really need to find Viktor first, I hope you understand. And if you don't mind I'd like to change into more comfortable attire, this dress really isn't suitable for running around the Grounds."

"Of course, as I said, I'll wait for you zere in an 'our. Also… don't get too comfortable with Viktor," Fleur blinked and gave a small kiss on Hermione's cheek.

"I won't. See you in an hour," said Hermione and left back to the castle to find Viktor.

---

The next chapter is almost done; I decided to cut this one in half because it seemed to me to be too long. I really appreciate your support on this one, and I think I'll go with the NC-17, though nothing too graphic and I'll do my best to blend the scene to fit the rest of this story, not change the style. I do remember being a teenager and it certainly wasn't anything to fit PG-13 rating. ;) Though Hermione's a good girl, unlike me when I was her age. :S Well I'll see, if the NC-17 content seems somehow improbable, I'll leave it out.

R&R, pwetty pweaaazz!


	8. Chapter 7b

This was originally going to be with the chapter 7 but seemed to be too long, so I cut it in half. Let this be 7b then? I'm going to change the point of view in the middle, it somehow felt okay, and it's done somewhat unnoticeably too, I hope. I wasn't intending to change it but I wanted to capture something else this time. For those who wanted Fleur's POV too. It will not have a sign "Fleur's POV" because that does not suit this story, but I'm warning now that it might change the style a bit. I apologize if it bothers someone. Or rather, I don't, it's my story anyways, like it or not, I'm going to finish it. :D

Oh, and I always forget to put the disclaimer thingy. I do not own the characters; they belong to J.K.Rowling, their rightful owner who'd probably freak out if she saw what I've done to them. Sorry. :D

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Viktor was in the Entrance Hall talking with some of his friends; Hermione stole him for a moment and explained what happened. He didn't seem to mind at all. The crowd was emerging from the Great Hall and everybody was saying their goodbyes. Hermione left to the dormitory, passing Ron on her way. She quickened her pace but was too slow, Ron caught up with her.

"How could you do that! Don't you realize that he's playing against Harry in this tournament! He's the enemy," Ron barked.

"Will you give up already? He just asked me and I agreed. How come you're aloud to like Fleur? You're not really setting an example, she's as dangerous to Harry as Viktor is," Hermione said, feeling irritated.

"But that's completely different! She's a girl." Ron said and tried to keep up with Hermione's pace.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Ron! Listen to yourself, I'm a girl too and I'd beat you anytime in a duel!" Hermione was getting annoyed.

"You should have been on our side, came with the other one of us," Ron said when they reached the Fat Lady's Portrait. Hermione was boiling with anger. They kept yelling and shouting until Harry came in and interrupted them. Hermione ran to the room, she was the first one to arrive and she changed to more comfortable clothes. She untied her hair and let it fall loose on her shoulders and went back to the common room to check if the boys were gone to sleep already. She didn't see either of them and she was about to step out of the portrait when Harry grabbed her sleeve and beamed at her. He was wearing an amused smirk on his face and holding out the Invisibility Cloak.

"I thought you might need this, in case if it gets late. Snape was giving detention to some students down there pretty easily."

"Thanks Harry, I'll give it back to you tomorrow," Hermione said and left. When she saw the empty corridor, she pulled on the cloak and continued her way out. Students were still unhurriedly going back to their dormitories. The front doors stood open and Hermione stepped out to the Grounds. She could easily find her way to the carriage. Fleur was waiting for her already. Nobody else was around, so Hermione took the cloak off.

"Hey again," Hermione said, smiling widely.

"'ello 'ermione, you're a bit early," Fleur returned the smile.

"Oh, yeah, I had a row with Ron, I just wanted to get out of there fast," Hermione explained.

"Oh, well, can we go in, it's a little bit chilly out 'ere."

"Of course, do I have to wear the cloak?"

"You'd better do zat, I am not sure if I am aloud to take you in, not zat nobody else is having guests tonight but still," Fleur said, smirking a little bit. Hermione threw the cloak on again and grabbed Fleur's arm. They stepped inside, and Hermione's jaw dropped in awe. The carriage reminded her of the tent she stayed last summer at the World Cup. It was a lot bigger than what it seemed to be from the outside. The first room they stepped into was sort of an atrium with marble floor and walls. There was an expensive looking carpet on the floor and a few black leather couches, making the room look like a lounge. There were two corridors leaving to different directions from the room. They took the left one and passed several doors on their way. The doors were light coloured wood with silver handles and there was a name written in every door with shining silver substance. They walked almost to the end of the corridor, when Hermione saw a door which had the name "Fleur Delacour" written on it. They stepped inside to Fleur's room that included a desk, a large cabinet and a bed sized for two. There was another door next to the cabinet, on the left-hand side. Hermione figured it was a bathroom and felt a hint of jealousy; the Hogwarts' students didn't have that much privacy. Fleur reached out and pulled the cloak off, meeting the amazed look on Hermione's face. Fleur had to chuckle at the sight.

"I know, it's a little bit different from your castle," Fleur said, looking around.

"Wow, I never thought… Such a beautiful place… It's so big," Hermione couldn't really find words; she hadn't really expected anything like that. But Fleur's next comment brought her back to the reality of the situation.

"_Oui_, but I must apologize, I 'aven't got anything to sit on, except my chair, but it's not comfortable enough. So may I suggest zat we skip ze formalities and occupy ze bed now?" Fleur asked with a mischievous grin spread on her face. Hermione had to time to answer, she was dragged to the bed; she had barely time to kick off her shoes when she suddenly found herself lying next to Fleur. She had to giggle at Fleur's impatience, though she couldn't help but to feel a little bit nervous the same time. She blushed and lifted her gaze to the ceiling. She double-checked if she really saw it right.

"Oh, how smooth, a mistletoe right above your bed," Hermione said sarcastically, but with a tinge of amusement in her voice.

"_Oui_, zat leaves you no choice but to kiss me," Fleur said softly, supporting herself on her elbow, her other hand resting on Hermione's stomach. She watched as Hermione blushed more; the impact of her words sinking in. She moved her hand lazily upwards, and heard Hermione's small intake of breath that made her hair in the back of her neck stand up, she suddenly wasn't feeling so confident at all. Her hand found its way to trace down the jaw line and she placed her thumb on Hermione's lips. Hermione, who had stared into Fleur's eyes the whole time, now closed her eyes. Fleur removed her thumb and leaned in to kiss her. Fleur could feel the butterflies racing in her stomach, she wasn't sure if she liked this sensation. She never had butterflies. She thought they were just a joke. This was making her more nervous, she was always able to restrain her feelings. She was just thinking how she must be losing control, when Hermione kissed her back, softly as always, but there was a hint of desire in it. Fleur let go of any thought wandering in her mind and lost herself to the kiss. She could feel Hermione's hand behind her back, slightly pulling her closer. Her insides were twisting into a tight knob; her skin felt like it was on fire, burning. She found her hand wandering around Hermione's stomach again, this time under her shirt. The skin felt warm and soft under her fingers. Hermione arched her back when the fingers found the fabric of her bra and bit Fleur's lower lip gently. A warm shiver shot through Fleur's body, but stopped in the bottom of her stomach. She felt suddenly really conscious of what was happening and pulled herself away.

"_Merde! _'Ermione… I shouldn't 'ave…" Fleur exhaled a breath she hadn't notice she'd been holding. The arm she was resting on was trembling.

"It's ok—"

"But I am not sure if I can stop if you let me go on," Fleur said apologetically.

"I don't want you to stop," Hermione said, looking straight into the blue eyes. She sounded so sincere that Fleur couldn't help but to relax a little bit. Fleur watched confused when Hermione suddenly sat up, she followed the example and rose up. She couldn't suppress a chuckle when she realized what Hermione was up to. She watched the younger girl re-position herself, facing Fleur and sitting on her lap. She remembered how she had sat on Hermione's lap during their second meeting.

"Is zat comfortable enough?"

"Very," Hermione said gently and pulled Fleur closer to continue where they had left. They started kissing, first softly then letting the heat come back slowly. Fleur's hands we're wandering around, eventually reaching what they had reached earlier, this time she decided to get rid of anything that was on her way. She lifted Hermione's shirt a bit warily, as if asking if it was ok. Fleur took it as a positive answer when Hermione lifted her arms up, she took the shirt off her. Hermione grabbed the hem of Fleur's shirt and pulled it off as well. Soon their clothes were piled up on the floor; their breathing was getting heavier and the pace faster. Fleur took a moment to slow down the speed and broke the kiss. She had never stopped admiring the beauty of another woman, and this one was no exception. There was one thing that was different about this time though, compared to the others. Fleur felt unselfish for the first time, she wanted Hermione to feel good; her own needs were entirely secondary.

After few hours, when their breathing had settled, they laid cuddled under the covers, tightly wrapped around each other. Hermione was resting her head on Fleur's chest, listening to her heartbeat. Both of them were still feeling euphoric. Fleur was the first one to break the peaceful silence.

"'ermione?" she whispered.

"Yes?"

"I am sorry for taking your first time away from you like zat."

"You didn't take it away, you gave it to me," Hermione said softly. Neither of them felt like saying anything after that.

----

I need to apologize if writing this has taken me for too long again. I wrote this actually twice, there's a graphic, detailed version, which I rejected after reading it through once. It doesn't fit the story at all, so I decided to go with less detailed version that in my opinion suits better, I might write something more graphic in later chapters, but the change of rating and style came too fast to be included in this chapter. I might also try to limit the chapters to 10 or 12 so that this does not become too boring or otherwise change from my original idea. There might be a chance I'll divide the next chapter into two like this one and let it be the last. Just let me know what you think :) After all, I'm writing this to you (and sorry I can't make it up to everyone's expectations, I'm only human after all, with a bad case of insomnia at the moment)

I think I got my mojo back. :D

Or then this is just temporary again. Let's hope not.

R&R, please:)


	9. Chapter 8

I know you all hate me by now, but I have a veeeery good excuse for my late update. I had a rough school + work combination period, which now ended a while ago. And also my creativity has been below zero for quite some time. I really tried to update this faster, and I wrote something on the paper occasionally, trying to revive my creativity but with really bad results. I also got a new computer couple days ago, which has now speeded the process, and hopefully will inspire me to write more chapters in the near future. Faster than this update has taken anyway. A lot faster.

But I hope you enjoy this, eh, rather long but quite pointless chapter.

AND the disclaimer I forget every time. I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS. Point taken, yes/no? These characters belong to J.K. Rowling (and my paperback book of HBP says they now also belong to the Warner Bros. but my respects are channelled mainly towards the creator of the HP world.)

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The next morning Fleur woke up to meet the hazel eyes staring at her. She watched as the hazel-eyed girl's subtle smile changed to a wide grin. As the flashbacks from last night started to pour into Fleur's mind, she found herself smiling widely too.

"Good morning, 'Ermione," Fleur said softly.

"Good morning, it's about time you woke up too."

"'ow long 'ave you been awake zen?"

"For about an hour, but it's only 8 in the morning. I should probably go back to the dorms before they start to spread weird rumours about me and Viktor," Hermione was thinking out loud.

"Viktor? Ze Durmstrang boy?"

"Yeah. We went to the Ball together last night, remember?"

"Ah, true, _pardon_. I forgot," Fleur answered frowning.

"But we'll meet later, right? I haven't given you a Christmas present yet," Hermione said, watching the effect of her words showing on Fleur's face.

"_Oui_, 'ow about after lunch? We would 'ave ze whole day, _non_?" Fleur's smile widened.

How about if we skip the lunch and meet after breakfast?"

"Even better."

After a while of snuggling, Fleur watched as Hermione dressed herself up and disappeared under the cloak. The door was opened and closed. A happy sigh escaped Fleur's lips when she turned around to lie on her back, staring at the ceiling.

-----

At breakfast Fleur chose a convenient spot so that she had a clear view to the Gryffindor table, and give occasional glance in Hermione's direction. But what she couldn't avoid was the crowd of Ravenclaw girls that gathered around her, inconveniently blocking the view.

"So how was it?" one of the girls asked excitedly. Fleur was perplexed.

"_Excuse moi_? 'ow was what?"

"Well, the evening with Roger Davies, of course."

"Oh, zat boy. 'e was overly enthusiastic. I prefer more calm and tactful kind of type. 'e did not seem to 'ave 'is own opinions at all," Fleur said with a careless tone.

"So you two didn't…"

"_Non_."

"But someone saw you two snogging in the garden last night. "

"_Oui._ I did zat to shut 'im up. 'e was quite bad kisser." Fleur answered indifferently. She was more focused on something else at the moment.

"No he's not, I've kissed him and he…" one of the Ravenclaw girls spoke up in rather defensive manner but was interrupted by Fleur.

"Well name one zat is worse zan 'im and I'll take your word for it, zen." Fleur was getting irritated.

"I… er… well…"

"If you 'ave nothing else to say, would you let me eat ze breakfast," Fleur said coldly. The girl who had just spoken was about to say something, but decided to let it be and continued eating in silence. Fleur took a sip from her pumpkin juice, suppressed a grimace, thinking how much she missed orange juice.

-----

After the breakfast Fleur and Hermione met in the Entrance Hall and decided to spend the day indoors, in Fleur's room. The time went by when they talked about everything between heaven and earth.

"I hate Ron, he's just such an insensitive prick," Hermione complained.

"Maybe 'e was jealous," Fleur teased.

"He would be, if he knew the truth. I mean, you're the only thing I've heard him talk about for the past few months."

"'ow about 'arry?"

"What about him?"

"Is 'e an insensitive prick too?"

"Oh, no. I've actually told him about you and me, he sort of guessed it," Hermione said, blushing a little bit.

"What did 'e say?"

"He has no problems with this, fortunately. I couldn't stand two narrow-minded pricks hanging around me the whole time." Hermione clearly wanted to change the subject, "By the way, if you were wondering about my present, I'll give it to you later. I can't really give it yet, it's too early."

"I was not. My present needs very late 'ours too," Fleur said, flashing a mischievous grin.

----

Hours passed while they were having a conversation, without any further mention of either Ron or Harry. They went back to the castle to eat dinner and came back as soon as they had finished their meals.

"If you need to get your present you should get it now," Fleur said as they entered her room.

"No need for that, I have it with me," Hermione said.

"But you don't 'ave any…" Fleur started to say, noticing the lack of boxes and wrapper papers.

"I have it with me," Hermione interrupted. She placed a finger on Fleur's lips and leaned in to give her a kiss.

"Zat was it?" Fleur asked after they had parted.

"Of course not, silly." Hermione chuckled.

------

It was nearing midnight already and neither had given their presents yet.

"Now's a perfect moment. Close your eyes," Hermione said to Fleur who was lying on her back. She did as told and closed her eyes tightly. She could hear Hermione muttering something, assuming it was a spell of some kind.

"You can open your eyes now," Hermione said quietly. After opening them, Fleur was speechless. She couldn't decide if she was more impressed by Hermione's talents or the beauty of the night sky opening in front of her eyes.

"Now we can watch the stars without freezing in the cold, though for only a limited time. I don't really know how to make the spell permanent like in the Great Hall; it should stay visible for few days, maybe for a week if we're lucky enough," Hermione explained and turned to lay on her back to gaze the stars. Both laid there in silence for several minutes before Fleur spoke up.

"_Merci,_ 'ermione."

"You're welcome."

"It's my turn to give you my present. You 'ave to close your eyes too," Fleur said quietly but with determined tone. Hermione closed her eyes and soon felt the warm weight as Fleur sat on top of her. Her arms were soon guided above her head and she could feel something soft around her wrists. She opened her eyes to check what was happening. Fleur gave the same mischievous grin she had seen earlier.

"I didn't give you a permission to open zem yet, you will get punished for zat later, 'ermione" Fleur said, still grinning and tightening the knots that tied Hermione to the bed.

-------

TBC…

------

HAH. Don't you even dare to ask for more specific details. :D It's up to your perverted imagination to figure out what happened.

hmph. you might wanna give me reviews to hype me up again and give me the bug to write more of this. . 

I really felt a tinge of guilt every time I got a review on the last chapter. I know I should have updated sooner.

I apologize for this delay.

But, R&R!!


	10. Chapter 9

HAH, you didn't see this coming. So yes, I got inspired by your reviews and decided I wouldn't make you wait another hundred years before this one is posted.

This is what you get when you review so faithfully:P For a while there I thought you guys had forgotten about me when didn't send any review notices (well it didn't send anything to my e-mail, at least it usually informs me that I've posted a new chapter, which I think is kind of unnecessary notice since I'm the one who posted the chapter) But then I felt optimistic and decided to check the review page and saw the reviews. DAMN YOU yes. and their support centre does not work, at least it didn't work for me so I couldn't go and bitch about this matter. But it seems alright now so…

**and the disclaimer**: I do not own the characters, they belong to J.K.Rowling.

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The two spent the last days of Christmas Break tightly together. Most of the time was spent in Fleur's room with cups of hot chocolate and a blanket around them while watching the snowflakes falling from the enchanted sky. The Invisibility Cloak was now for the time being left in Hermione's custody; enabling her nightly visits. Hermione couldn't think of a period in her life she would have been happier than this. However the school was about to get started again and that meant less free-time to spend with each other. As the last day of holidays came too quickly, the girls had locked themselves in Fleur's room with a warm blanket and endless supply of hot chocolate.

"So we only have time to see each other in the weekends, then?" Hermione sighed, after a long conversation of how they would use their free-time.

"We should do all of ze 'omework during ze week, so we don't need to worry about zat in ze weekend. Zat doesn't mean we can't speak to each other," Fleur said while resting her head on Hermione's shoulder.

"Why don't we study together in the library couple days a week, that'd make it easier, wouldn't it?"

"_Oui_, it would." Fleur raised her head and leant in to plant a kiss on Hermione's lips.

Few hours later Hermione was walking along the snowy path back to the castle with a wide smile on her face.

------

The days went past and they had started out a habit of slipping notes to while passing by each other in the corridors or the Great Hall during lunch. Fleur was feeling more anxious every day because of the Second task. She was loaded with work and practice for the coming trial. January changed to February in no time; 10th of February Fleur received another note of Hermione, feeling a bit confused, since they had already set date for their next library meeting. The three words written on the paper made her smile widely.

_Be My Valentine_

Fleur fumbled her bag for a spare bit of parchment and her quill and wrote "_Oui_". She also scribbled a little heart in the corner. She turned around to catch up with Hermione who had already disappeared behind the corner. Seeing her accompanied by Harry and Ron, she quickly made up an excuse so she could interrupt them without evoking any suspicions in Ron.

"_Excuse moi, mademoiselle_ Granger. I think you dropped zis just a moment ago," Fleur said politely while suppressing the smile she was wearing seconds ago.

------

The actual Valentine's Day was spent in Fleur's room again. Fleur would have wanted to go to Hogsmeade, but Hermione disagreed with this by saying it'd be too obvious if they would be seen together. Fleur didn't mind spending the day indoors, but she still felt a little bit bothered by this decision.

"Are you ashamed of me?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"What--- no! Why would I be?" Hermione asked with a slight alarmed tone.

"Zen why don't you want to go to 'ogsmeade with me? Are you afraid someone would find out about us?"

"It's not like that. Or maybe it is, I don't know. I'm just not ready yet to out myself to the whole school, if you know what I mean? But this has nothing to do with you, I would want the whole world to know you're mine if I wasn't such a coward," Hermione said cautiously, she didn't really want to start a fight over this matter.

"So I'm yours zen?" Fleur teased, feeling relatively better than she had heard Hermione say that. Hermione blushed.

"Y-yes. I mean… if you'd like to be," she said shyly.

"Does zat mean you're mine too?" Fleur asked and brushed the tip of Hermione's nose with her finger.

"Yes, I suppose it does."

"Well, I'm all yours, zen."

------

It was the dawn of the day Fleur had been so nervous about. She hadn't slept too well and was feeling a bit cranky by the time of breakfast. What made her sulkier was the fact that she couldn't see Hermione anywhere. She waited for 20 minutes without even touching her breakfast, just constantly glancing at the Gryffindor table. She couldn't see Harry or Ron either. She really felt like in need of some encouraging words from Hermione. Even a simple "Good luck!" would have helped, but she didn't get even a glimpse of her before the task was starting and the Champions gathered together. She couldn't locate her even in the audience, and she double-checked.

"_Merde!_ You chose the wrong day to let me down, 'ermione," Fleur muttered under her breath. She also couldn't help worrying if something had happened to her. Moments later she found out why Hermione was missing. _How did they know? _was the first thought that poured into her mind, only to be erased seconds later when Madame Maxime told her who she really was supposed to get from the watery depths. Harry rushed towards the lake, badly late. _But if Hermione is not mine to save, is she really _that_ important to Harry? _She had only a little time to think about this when it was time to go underwater already. She performed the Bubble-Head spell she had practiced and dived under the surface.

After being defeated by Grindylows Fleur felt even sulkier than she had before the task had started. She was worried about her little sister Gabrielle and of course, Hermione. She was still wondering who the one that was supposed to save her was. She tried to search for Ron in the audience, if he was in the audience that would mean Hermione really was Harry's to find and save. After a long search without any results, she felt a tinge of jealousy realizing that it was Krum who would be saving her. _The judges really don't have a clue, do they? _Fleur thought to herself, chuckling. Minutes seemed like hours when Fleur was waiting for someone to resurface under the water. When someone finally did, Fleur jumped up to her feet to see which one of the champions it was. When she noticed it was only the pretty boy with the Asian girl that had annoyed her in the breakfast table at Christmas, her heart sank. What seemed like another hour to Fleur, another finally surfaced and Fleur was happy to see it was Hermione… with Krum. She felt jealousy taking over her again. Krum and Hermione were guided soon to accompany the lonely-looking Fleur. Fleur tried to force herself to smile when Hermione approached her.

"Are you ok? You have bruises and cuts all over you. Where's Gabrielle?" Hermione asked with worried tone.

"I got attacked by ze Grindylows," Fleur explained, looking utterly defeated. Hermione gave her a sympathetic smile. Fleur was just about to ask Hermione whether she was feeling ok, when Krum interrupted them.

"Herm-o-ninny, kan I talk to you?" he said pulling her aside. Fleur felt annoyed by this course of action. She let out a self-satisfied chuckle when Harry popped out of the water and Hermione's attention was suddenly stolen away from him. Fleur noticed her little sister with Harry and Ron and hurried to see what was going on. When she realized Harry had saved her sister, she felt like she needed to thank him somehow. Fleur knew just saying "thank you" would have been enough but she was still bitter about Krum, so to Hermione's annoyance she kissed Harry on the cheeks. She glanced at Hermione, but she didn't react in any way. So she kissed Ron too, even though there was no reason to do so. This apparently worked better to make Hermione jealous in return, or rather, furious more like.

-----

Half an hour later, Hermione had grabbed Fleur with her to the edge of the forest where they couldn't be heard.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked furiously.

"What was what all about? You're ze one who ignored me, left me alone so you could flirt with ze Durmstrang boy!" Fleur shouted, feeling hurt and angry the same time. Tears were starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

"I was not flirting with him! You kissed Ron, and you knew how I would… you did that on purpose," she answered with slightly disappointed tone.

"So what if I did? I 'ad every right to feel 'urt." Tears were already falling down Fleur's cheeks.

"Don't blame this on me! You're completely missing out my point!" Hermione shouted out loud. "If you're angry about failing the task, don't take it out on me!"

Fleur helplessly stood there without saying anything just gaping her mouth, forming silent words. She couldn't stand the situation any longer so she dashed out of the scene and ran all the way back to the carriage. Only when she was in her room she let herself burst into tears. Took her a while to gather her thoughts, she tried to think about what happened from Hermione's point of view. Hermione, who had been underwater, who really didn't get a chance to wish her good luck. When she came to the surface, she couldn't have understood why Fleur was so angry. Everything just started to take clearer form in Fleur's head. When she realized she had been acting like an idiot she stormed out of her room thinking she might still catch Hermione if she ran fast. To her surprise, immediately when she stepped out of the carriage, Hermione was standing few feet ahead of her. Fleur walked to her, without saying anything she embraced Hermione and held her tightly. Hermione had clearly understood the situation, she was equally holding on tightly. Fleur was sobbing against her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I said such stupid things to you, I bet you've had a rough day," Hermione whispered to Fleur's ear.

"_Non_, 'ermione, I should be sorry, not you."

"Shush, you silly girl and kiss me already," Hermione said playfully. Fleur failed to suppress a chuckle and did as she was told. She broke the kiss after a while.

"I love you, 'ermione."

---------------------------

Review, pwetty pweeeaaase :3

And I have to warn you, that the next chapter will be the last. It might be divided to two parts (a & b again) but I'll see about that when I start writing it.

If you want, I might consider writing a sort of sequel to this, set in the time of HBP. I _might _write that, I'm not making any promises. And I surely won't start writing it right away. Or any other sort of future update to their lives later on. But I don't promise anything . it's just an idea.

Anyways, look forward to the last chapter in the near future. :D Should I set a deadline so I could actually get it done? Nah, I don't write well under pressure. Near future. That's a promise. :P


	11. Chapter 10a

Sorry, I know this is a bit late update again. Thanks to a certain inspiring person, I surpassed my laziness. So this is the Chapter 10a, sort of a filler chapter. Not really as long as the other chapters, but it's just meant to make the next part (10b) easier to understand. Sorry for the change of POV too. Just let me know if it's confusing that the whole story is not told from Hermione's POV. But you asked for Fleur's POV so that's what you got. :P What am I babbling on about.. go read the chapter already:P

**Disclaimer:** J.K.Rowling owns it all.

**EDIT//**

Didn't actually touch the fic in any ways, just wasted some time drawing a picture based on this chapter. It can be found from DeviantArt, my username is the same as here. (I'm no expert drawing with a tablet so go easy on me )

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Hermione was aware of how the time had flown, just how fast, that she didn't want to find out. The weather was getting warmer and the days longer. She had a hard time trying to fit everything in her schedule. The school atmosphere had grown more excited and everything seemed to be related to the Triwizard tournament. The upcoming task was the main subject in the corridors during breaks.

Lately Hermione had adopted a new habit of daydreaming during the lessons. She already knew what the teacher was going to say, having read the schoolbooks over and over again. During Ancient Runes, a girl from Ravenclaw interrupted Hermione's thoughts of an exceptionally nice evening with Fleur the day before. Fleur had used some interesting techniques of relieving stress and tension while they were having cosy time in the bath tub. Hermione awoke when she heard someone calling her.

"Hermione? Are you ok? You seem a bit absent today," A dark-haired Ravenclaw asked.

"Huh? Oh! I guess I was just lost in my thoughts, I'm ok," Hermione responded, idly brushing the quill under her chin.

"Well, you do seem different somehow, I was wondering if… well… if it was true or not what I heard the other day," the girl continued.

"If what was true?" Hermione asked, dropping the quill on the table.

"They said that you are, well, involved with someone… And to me, it just seemed a bit odd match, knowing that you're not… er… one of that kind of people."

"Involved with w-who exactly?" Hermione gulped. Her heart was racing fast_. Please, don't say Fleur!_

"Well, er… I hope you don't take this personally or anything if I'm wrong or rather, they were wrong. Just asking as a matter of interest, I have no intentions to tell anyone if this turns out to be true. Are you or are you not going out with the Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour?" The girl asked cautiously.

"W-what?! No, I'm not," Hermione said, trying to act surprised, "She…she's… a girl."

"That's not such a bad thing, I'm just worried a bit about this rumour spreading around and reaching people who are narrow-minded and might cause you trouble."

"Well I suppose there's nothing wrong about liking girls, I mean, there isn't… I just don't… why do you care anyways?"

"I just don't want people to get hurt because of some stupid rumours, I just thought you should know… be warned, so to speak," the Ravenclaw girl smiled. Hermione hesitated whether to admit it, but wasn't quite convinced of the girl's sincerity. The bell rang conveniently, Hermione didn't mind the interruption.

"In case if you are dating her, I'd say you're damn lucky. I'd date her myself if I liked girls," the girl grinned and started to pack her things.

---

Few hours later Hermione studied for the exams in the Gryffindor common room. She was trying to ignore Ron, who appeared to be in a bad mood, picking up a fight with her.

"Hermione! Answer me, where were you yesterday evening? I needed your History notes; I think I might actually fail this time."

"Since when have I been obliged to spend every moment with you and Harry?" Hermione snapped, getting irritated by just listening to Ron's voice.

"You were with him, weren't you?" he blurted out scornfully.

"With who? Viktor? Or maybe you mean Harry? Why don't you go ask Rita Skeeter what I did yesterday, she seems to know what's going on in my life! SO, YES RON! I WAS HAVING A GANG-BANG WITH THE CHAMPIONS IN A BLOODY BROOM CLOSET!!!"

"OK, I get it. None of my business," Ron suddenly went quiet. He was gazing to the distance for a while and Hermione misinterpreted this as a symptom of guilt.

"I'm sor—" Hermione started but Ron interrupted her.

"Was Fleur involved in that gang-bang too?" Ron asked dreamily and was immediately hit by a heavy Rune book.

"SERIOUSLY! What's wrong with everyone today?!" Hermione gave up on studying and decided to go to sleep early.

--------------------------

And yes, it was meant to be disturbing like that. :F

Remember to review!

Stay tuned for the next chapter, the last chapter of this fic. (The author is doing a happy dance when that is done. XD)

Reviews are appreciated.


	12. Chapter 10b

So. This is it. I hope it's somewhat enjoyable. And I'd want to give special thanks to DeMoKa, s3xy-Lady and LitaDelacour for being such an inspiration and giving me occasional push to keep on going. (And everyone else, those of you who have been reading this since I posted chapter 1 and those who joined in later.)

I appreciate every single review I've gotten so far.

Also, to let you in on a secret, writing this took nearly 12 hours. I planned it and re-planned it on paper. It went through some major changes during the actual writing process but I can say it's better than what the few pages of notes and scrabbles look like.

Concerning the whole story, there has been only one artist I've listened to the whole time. So, thanks to Benassi Bros. for creating the right atmosphere. (Don't ask me why them, I do not have the answer to that question. I just like house music too, kay? o.O) Thanks to Coca Cola, who has kept me awake all these long nights. (Not tonight though, I cheated on coke with some green tea :b) I decided at some point to finish this during this year. It's a bit last minute so forgive me.

**Disclaimer:** Characters, places and other stuff belong to J.K.Rowling.

_**-----------**_

As if she had been in a stupor, Hermione awoke to reality the day before the third task. Past weeks had been hectic, mainly focusing around Harry and his training. While studying for the upcoming History of Magic examination, she grasped the present moment. A clear picture hit her like a punch in the face – quite like the one she had given Draco Malfoy about a year ago. Same time the next day she would be sitting in the audience, anticipating and worrying about two important people working their way through the maze. A week after the task she would be leaving her goodbyes to Fleur. A heavy lump started to form in the pit of her stomach; both of them had been so busy with the upcoming Task that whenever they found time to be with each other, neither one had actually spoken about what would happen in the future. Hermione felt like time was running out; a momentary torrent of panic swept through her. She was about to dash into the Beauxbatons' carriage but decided not to; she didn't want to disturb Fleur with something like that. It could wait till later, when the time was right. So Hermione decided she would confront Fleur about this after the Third Task.

Morning of the Third Task finally dawned. While eating her breakfast, Hermione was eyeing the Ravenclaw table and exchanging glances with Fleur. She was interrupted by the owl bringing her the latest Daily Prophet. Hadn't she taken a sip of pumpkin juice just a moment ago, the front page would have been juice-free. _Oh, for the dear love of… what's wrong with that Skeeter woman?! _She managed to think while taking another quick look at the headlines. She failed to cover up for this sudden burst of astonishment (and the juice) and the conversation was soon evolving around the subject, written on the paper. The conversation ended when Hermione darted to the library, Ron's words of complaint fading to the loud crowd of students chattering in the Great Hall.

Hermione was the first one to finish the History examination, she pretended to read through the answers she knew to be correct and well thought-out. After figuring out how Rita Skeeter got all of her scoops, she couldn't help but to feel lucky about how narrowly she had avoided the headlines about her and Fleur. Judging by the first article about the champions, the only one Skeeter found interesting was Harry. She was getting anxious, wanting to get out of the class room already, quickly see one more book about animagi and hurry to tell Harry and Ron about this. After the exam, she didn't make it to the library. She ran into Fleur on her way, who was accompanied with her little sister, Gabrielle, and what obviously seemed to be her mother; judging by the look of her – clearly half a Veela.

"'Ermione! I just told about you to my mother, she was very enthusiastic to meet you; and 'ere you are," Fleur said beaming at the very dumbfounded girl in front of her.

"You… told about… us?" Hermione was rudely ignoring her mother, who held out her hand.

"Excuse-moi, mère. 'ermione can I talk to you alone for a minute," Fleur said tonelessly, dragging Hermione further away where they couldn't be overheard.

"So you just told her without asking me first?!" Hermione tried to keep her voice down.

"I didn't tell 'er anything yet, just zat I 'ave made a good friend 'ere. I was going to tell 'er when you came but I can see now it is not such a good idea," Fleur sighed. "I understand of course, if you don't wish me to tell 'er anything yet."

"Oh, so you didn't… I'm sorry I lost my temper like that."

"It's ok," Fleur said and gave a warm smile. Hermione flung her hands in front of her mouth.

"OH BLOODY—I must have made a complete fool out of myself, acting so rudely towards your mother…" Hermione gushed, she grabbed Fleur's arm and dragged her back. She smiled awkwardly towards Mrs. Delacour. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Delacour. There was a bit of understanding, please excuse my rudeness."

Mrs. Delacour kept nodding and smiling while shaking Hermione's hand. Fleur poked Hermione with her elbow. "My mother does not understand a word of English."

Hermione was headed towards the Quidditch Pitch with all the other students; she was getting exceptionally concerned and uneasy. Ron kept tailing after her, asking her meaningless questions and pointing out monotonous things, such as the decoration and the high fences. When they found seats, Hermione was shifting restlessly in her chair; only half-heartedly listening to Ron. She had so much on her mind, she felt like talking to someone, preferably Harry but seeing as he wasn't available she tried the less preferable alternative, Ron.

"Ron, what would you do if you liked someone, or rather, loved someone who you shouldn't love? I don't mean it would be so wrong to love this person, just that you're sure most of the people wouldn't take it so well. And you wouldn't be sure if you're ready to handle that kind of dislike from those people," Hermione explained, barely stopping to inhale in between sentences.

Ron stared quietly at her for what seemed to be like an hour in Hermione's point of view. He was evidently trying to figure out everything Hermione had just blurted out. His expression finally changed. "So what you're saying… you love Krum and want to know whether you should out your relationship to everyone, or not?" He sounded a bit shocked.

"Oh, for crying out loud, Ron! This is not about… never mind. Just forget what I just said," Hermione sulked and crossed her arms.

"But… Wh—" He started, but Hermione interrupted him with a murderous stare.

-----------

While having her breakfast in the Great Hall on the day of the Third Task, Fleur was exchanging glances with Hermione. She felt a tinge of tenseness for what was about to come, but the glances and the familiar slight smile on Hermione's face made her instantly feel better. She was interrupted by a dark-haired Ravenclaw girl sitting next to her.

"Oh, c'mon! It's obvious. You and her," she whispered to Fleur.

"_Mm, oui_," Fleur said dreamily. It took her a while to realize what she had just agreed to. "What?! I mean… What do you mean?"

"You and Hermione Granger, but… say no more. I won't tell anyone," the girl responded with a grin.

"Ah, _merci beaucoup._"

She was called to the chamber off the Hall after she finished her breakfast. Not sure what to expect she rose up and did as told. She was pleasantly surprised to see her mother and Gabrielle. She was in good relations with her mother; they always shared secrets and told each other everything. Fleur tried to summarize everything that had happened, they had been sending letters to each other every now and then but she hadn't really told her mother about the nature of the relationship between her and Hermione. Needless to say, Mrs. Delacour had figured this out, knowing her daughter so well. They took a walk on the grounds and Fleur had time to tell everything she hadn't told her mother in the letters. She found it a bit pointless to show around the castle since she didn't know many places, despite this her mother wanted to have a look-around. Hours later they were on their way to have some lunch, coming from the library when they met Hermione half-way to the Great Hall. Fleur noticed immediately when she had finished her sentence that she had clearly said something stupid. Hermione seemed really upset; Fleur knew how she didn't want anyone to know. She wanted to point out how Hermione had told Harry, but held her tongue; she didn't want to fight at a time like this. So she told a little white lie to calm Hermione down. However she couldn't help feeling hurt a little, as if Hermione was ashamed of her. She knew it wasn't so or at least wanted to believe it wasn't so. She tried to think of reasons why Hermione was acting like that, only being able to come to the conclusion that maybe it wasn't so much about her, but Hermione herself. She was quite young, maybe not entirely ready for all of this; even if she wanted to be.

The champions walked ahead to the Pitch. Fleur's mind was occupied with the incident before lunch. They were told to wait for a while until the audience would be there and settled on their seats. Fleur took advantage of this short moment and pulled Harry away from the other two.

"Zis is about 'ermione. But I assume you knew zat," Fleur said, keeping her voice down.

"Yeah, I figured. What about her?" Harry asked.

"It's just zat, she really does not want anyone to know about us. I know it 'as nothing to do with me, or at least I want to believe so," Fleur explained.

"I'm not gonna say I know her better, but I've certainly known her for a longer period of time. She hasn't really discussed about this with me but I think it's entirely her own inner struggles; everything probably has to do with you, but none of it is your fault. I think she's just mainly terrified of people's reactions if they knew."

"_Merci,_ 'Arry. Zat made more sense zan what I 'ave thought about," Fleur said, feeling a bit more relieved.

"No problem, I just want her to be happy. So take good care of her, won't you?" Harry grinned. "Oh, and good luck for the Third Task."

"You too, 'Arry."

--------

Minutes seemed like hours to Hermione, she didn't know how much time had passed since the champions entered the maze but it felt like an eternity already. More long moments passed, she was restlessly twitching her legs, shifting around and changing her position. She almost jumped up when Ron spoke to her.

"Hermione! Calm down, Harry'll be ok," he said, eyeing at her disbelievingly.

"Yeah, I know…" she said quietly while she was promptly staring at the point where the champions entered the maze.

"Oh, so it's not Harry you're so worried about. I'm sure your dear Viktor is doing fine as well," Ron spat out.

"Ron, will you shut up about Viktor already?! You're just so clueless, I wonder how you manage to—" Hermione was interrupted by the crowd suddenly rising to their feet to see the first champion carried out of the maze. Both, Hermione and Ron, jumped up to see who it was.

"IS SHE OK?!" they shouted through the crowd simultaneously. Fleur Delacour was lying motionless on the grass. Dumbledore's voice soon echoed in the chilly air.

"Ms. Delacour will be fine in a moment. She has been stunned, nothing to worry about."

Hermione felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Fleur was fine.

Hours passed, it was way pass the midnight when Hermione told the others she'd be going to bed. After all that chaos, she knew she couldn't sleep so instead of heading her steps towards the Gryffindor tower she headed straight outside, walking with a fast pace until she reached the spot she was very familiar with. She collapsed on the ground, leaned against the cool surface of the rock. She tilted her head back and let her mind settle, her eyes were closed; she opened them to see the nightly sky and the ocean of stars. She sat there quietly for a long time. She startled at the sound of approaching footsteps. She turned around and peeked out over the rock to see who it was. She jumped to her feet and ran towards the person approaching her spot.

"Fleur!" Hermione ran to Fleur's embrace. She let out muffled sobs against the skin on Fleur's neck. "I was so w-worried about y-you… And H-Harry and… It was horrible to w-watch all of that happening, I c-couldn't…"

"Shh, 'ermione, it's ok now," Fleur murmured, stroking Hermione's hair. She pulled Hermione behind the rock and sat down, Hermione followed and curled up under her arm. "Let it all out, 'ermione. It will 'elp."

Tears were silently falling down Hermione's cheeks. Twenty minutes passed by in silence. Hermione felt safe and warm by Fleur's mere presence; she soon wiped the tears away, took a long intake of breath and straightened up.

"Thank you, it did help."

"_Oui,_ it always does. I think we should talk, I know it is not ze best time right now but if zis chaos remains, I don't think zere will be a better time," Fleur said rather cautiously.

"I know, I also think we should talk," Hermione agreed. She took another deep breath, foreseeing what was going to be the subject of this conversation, "So… You want to start or should I?"

"I can start and ask you something first. Are you surely ready for zis kind of commitment?" There was no accusing tone in her voice, just a gentle, understanding nuance. Hermione stared at Fleur for a while, before answering.

"I don't know if I am. But… if that means this is over then I'll be ready for it no matter what," Hermione said.

"Of course it won't be over. What you need is a bit of time, _non_? I was thinking whether I should get a job from 'ere over ze summer. You don't 'ave to decide anything by zen, I will be near if you ever need me."

"That'd be great. I know I want to be with you, I'm just not sure if now is the right moment," Hermione said, her eyes were watering again.

"I know 'ermione. Zis doesn't mean we can't see each other, _non_? I'll always be 'ere for you," Fleur stated and planted a soft kiss on Hermione's forehead. A short silence followed and Hermione was leaning her head against Fleur's chest, listening to her serene heartbeats. Both of the girls were gazing at the stars quietly, Hermione didn't really think anything profound, she tried to find a word for what she was feeling at the moment but failed to find any. She wanted to stay in that moment forever.

"Oh, by ze way, 'erm-own-ninny, don't you go fooling around with all ze girls drooling after you when I'm away, _non_?" Fleur said teasingly. Hermione hit her playfully in the arm.

"With every single one of them."

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The day of the departure for everyone was sunny and warm. It had been only a week since Hermione and Fleur ceased to be in an 'official relationship' but Hermione had no regrets. They had still had fun like they used to, taken the most out of the time that was left rather than sulking about the fact that the time was running out. Hermione had her trunk packed and she was standing in the Entrance Hall waiting for the carriages with Harry and Ron. Fleur came in to Hermione's surprise. They had said their goodbyes this morning before Hermione had snuck back to the castle. But Fleur merely glanced at Hermione, she mainly came to say goodbye to Harry. Ron made an idiotic comment again and Hermione rolled her eyes. She flashed a quick smile to Fleur before she left. Ron kept staring at Fleur's back disappearing inside the Beauxbatons' carriage. Hermione couldn't stop herself.

"Don't even dream about it, Ron. She's mine."

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TBC…

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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! IT IS DONE.. finally. I might just be the only one cheering about this. NOW WHERE'S THE CHAMPAGNE???

:'D oh.. in the fridge waiting for tonight..

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

And I want to thank the academy and... erm. right. :D

If you could just hit the review button one last time, it'd make me really, really happy.

Don't let the TBC fool you, the sequel is very probably going to be written. But I shall take a short vacation from writing this. So don't expect it any time soon. Give me few months. Then you can start filling up my mail-box with complaints and exploding letters etcetc. (and I mean my e-mail, that in case of emergency can be found from my profile page)

Just informing you all, I made a fanart piece (tablet & paint shop pro I think, photoshop decided to piss me off for some strange reason) based on this fic. Based on the chapter 10a, as a matter of fact. It can be located at spookje. deviantart. com (this stupid things doesn't allow me to use url addresses so without the spaces) and it's not a masterpiece. I'm a rookie with the tablet and all..

Thank you everyone for reviewing and reading my story:)


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